Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.

‘The Americans’: Welcome home, Elizabeth

Elizabeth whispers sweet spy secrets in Phillip’s ear while the crew from The Office continues to film through the blinds. (facebook.com/TheAmericans)

This is the perfect time to welcome The Americans (first season streaming on Amazon Prime) back to our living rooms. The Olympics re-invigorated my patriotism and desire to chant “USA! USA! USA!” at the slightest provocation. It did not go unnoticed that FX bought a lot of commercial time during the Olympics to promote The Americans in the hopes that everyone wanted to just keep that high-fiving “Go USA!” Olympic feeling going.

But it’s not that simple, is it? The Cold War may seem black and white from our USA-centric worldview but that’s not what’s presented here. For The Americans, it’s all about perspective. Phillip and Elizabeth are ostensibly the bad guys according to the US History courses we all took but they’re often presented as sympathetic and just following orders. The Americans does an excellent job of shifting that view week to week or even within an episode, whether it’s following Stan and his FBI buddies or giving us a glimpse inside the Rezidentura and Nina’s quest to become the first quadruple agent of the Cold War. (At this point, I’m not sure she even knows whose side she’s on.) When the focus changes, we’re meant to examine the gray area that all these characters live in. At times, Stan, Phillip, Elizabeth, and Nina are all reprehensible people, yet we UNDERSTAND them and why they act the way they do. Stan needs to catch the bad guys to maintain his sanity and job. Phillip and Elizabeth need to avoid being caught in order to serve Mother Russia and protect their American born children…

Oh, Paige and Henry… this is going to be a big year for you. I can feel it. Stay strong.

At the end of last season, Elizabeth had been shot in the stomach and “went to see her aunt” so she could recover from the wound. The gunshot was, in a weird way, what brought these two crazy kids back together. After their fake marriage hit a rough patch, Elizabeth’s near-death experience spurred her to repair her relationship with Phillip. Elizabeth returns home for Henry’s birthday, after nearly running over a deer trying to protect its young – METAPHOR ALERT. For how much longer will they be able to protect the innocence of their children? The increasingly curious Paige, in particular, is growing up too fast. Whether she’s “helping her mom do laundry” or stumbling upon her parents engaging in some bedroom numerology, Paige is going to be asking questions and she probably won’t like the answers. As their children grow older, it’s becoming more challenging than ever for the Jenningses to have a work/life balance, especially when they’re living double lives (sometimes triple) and have multiple jobs. How in the world do they manage to run their travel agency at all anymore?

While Elizabeth’s introduction this season is her re-introduction to the family, Phillip’s first appearance is a stark reminder that he can be just as cold-hearted as any other Russian or American spy. When a deal goes bad with some Afghans, one of whom boasts of killing a Russian with the blade he offers to Phillip as a gift, Phillip shoots his way out of trouble (and loses his wig in the process, THE HORROR!). On his way out, he kills an innocent busboy for seeing too much. (Also, terrible.)

On the set of American Hustle, Phillip spends a quiet, reflective moment thinking about if he applied enough glue to his wig. (facebook.com/TheAmericans)

There wasn’t too much development for Stan in the first episode. He’s still separated from Sandra (Susan Miser, now a series regular!) but they seem to be warming up to each other. His source, Sandford, has proven to be completely unreliable as none of his leads have panned out. Sandford bothers the Colonel one too many times and ends up with two bullets in the head instead of $500,000 in his pocket like he thought he was going to get from the FBI. The State Department continues to look into the murder of Vlad and although no one suspects Stan, it’s clear that someone is going to take the fall for this.

The primary plot of the episode involves he Jenningses and their Russian friends, Emmett and Leanne, the titular Comrades. They say that Claudia sends her regards to Phillip and Elizabeth. Apparently, Claudia is still in DC, despite her saying that she may be headed back to Russia at the end of last season. No hard feelings, Claudia! This is FX’s way of saying “We didn’t think we were going to get Margo Martindale back for this season but Spoiler Alert! She’s totally coming back.” Phillip and Elizabeth take Paige and Henry to the fair in Alexandria where they can see, but not talk to their Russian friends and their children. They are having fun when, as usual, work gets in the way. Emmett believes that he has been made and requests Phillip to complete the dead drop with their contact. Phillip dons a baseball hat, the most effective tool in a spy’s arsenal of disguises, and completes the message drop in one hand while holding Henry’s hand in the other. It’s a risky move that in one fleeting image perfectly captures the two lives Phillip leads.

Unfortunately, the mission does not end well and as Phillip and Elizabeth arrive in Emmett’s hotel room, they found them shot and killed by an unknown assailant. Who could have done this and additionally taken the life of an innocent teenage girl? As a horrified Phillip leaves the scene, their friend’s son Jared returns from the pool to stumble upon the carnage inside. As much as Phillip and Elizabeth want to protect their own children, this is an unfortunate reminder of the war they are waging and the ever-present danger lurking around every corner.

Closing Thoughts:

I am so excited to have The Americans back this season. I find the Jennings’ marriage fascinating and I’m always going to be drawn to a good spy story. I look forward to being your guide through all of these early 80′s shenanigans.

Martha is back! It’s amazing that she accepts the fact that she can only see her husband a couple of days a week. NOT NORMAL, MARTHA. I fear for how her story ends.

Henry receives a telescope for his birthday. It’s a swell gift (12 times more powerful than his last one!) but what he really wanted was a video game player (Intellivision).

The Americans and FX are really pushing the limits of what you can show on TV. It’s not at the sexposition levels of Game of Thrones but it’s about as edgy as you can go on basic cable.

1981 Meryl Streep, coming off roles in The Deer Hunter,Manhattan, and Kramer vs. Kramer, does not impress Nina. Sandra, on the other hands really seems to enjoy it. Maybe it’s because she saw it on the big screen instead of at home via a shaky pirated copy.

Rod Stewart’s “Passion” somehow passes as representative American music in 1982. Mind blown.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.